


Taken Bachelors

by IvyCpher



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: 1960s Music, Alternate Universe - 1960s, Alternate Universe - Reverse Falls, BillDip, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Reverse Bill Cipher, Reverse Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines, Reverse Dipper Pines, Willdip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-06-23 21:50:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15615774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyCpher/pseuds/IvyCpher
Summary: In the search for a roommate, Mason finds someone who will soon be much more.





	1. Chapter 1

Mason sighed as he checked the tape on his answering machine. It had been a week since he placed an add in the post looking for a roommate, and he had received no calls. He was worried he would have to take his lavish living down a step and move into a smaller apartment.

But what could he expect? There was a war going on, and all the men who weren't drafted to fight in Nam were probably clinging to their mothers leg like a child.

Mason was surprised to see that there was actually a recording on the machine.  _ Hopefully it's not a hippie, _ he thought as he pressed play.

_ “Uh hi, I'm calling about the add I saw in the paper?” _ The recorder had an oddly soft voice for a man in Mason's opinion, but he didn't sound like a hippie.  _ “For the available position of a roommate? My name is William Cipher, and I'm available in the position. My number is 555-608-97432. I'm usually available from 5PM to 10PM on weekdays. Thank you, goodbye.” _

The tape stopped, and Mason stood there for a second. He was glad to finally have someone apply to be his roommate. He would not bump down his style of living, nor would he ask his family for money to live comfortably. No, he was a man, and a Gleeful man at that. He didn't need to ask his family for help.

Mason checked the time on his watch, it was 6:30PM. He was well within the time range that this William was available. He picked up the large receiver and dialed the number he had been given.

***

William was ironing his shirt for the next day when the phone started to ring. He laid the iron on it's side and went to the receiver on the wall. He picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Yes hello, is this the Cipher residence?”

“Yes,” William nodded at the question reflexively even though he was alone. “May I ask who is calling?”

“I'm Mason Gleeful and I'm returning a William's call to me earlier about becoming my roommate. Is he around?”

“He is speaking.” William smiled, oh he hoped he could become Mason's roommate. He didn't know the man, but he sounded pleasant enough on the phone, and he really wanted to get out of his current apartment. “Thank you for getting back to me so quickly.”

“Don’t mention it, now are you free tomorrow evening, after work of course. I thought it would be more relaxed if we talked about this over dinner."

“Oh, yes I am free tomorrow. Um, where were you thinking of meeting?”

“There is a fine diner not too far from my place. It's called Greasy’s, do you know it?”

“Yes, I pass it every day on my way to work.”

“Good, why don't we meet there this time tomorrow then?”

“Sounds good to me, thank you.”

“No, thank you.”

And the call ended.

William put the receiver back up and clapped his hands together. Hopefully tomorrow would be a good day.

***

After work the next day, William came home and changed into his best suit. It was black with blue trim. He looked in the mirror and hoped he looked okay.

He left his apartment and started on his walk to the diner that he would meet Mason at. It wasn't far, just about six blocks.

Will would check his watch every once and a while as he walked, he knew he wasn't going to be late. He was just anxious.

He ended up arriving at the diner early, but that was okay. The extra time could give him time to go over what he would say to Mason- God he didn't even know what the other man looked like.

William sighed and checked his watch. He was fifteen minutes early, he might as well go inside and think; he would probably have a better chance of spotting Mason inside anyways.

He walked into the diner and a bell jingled above him, it smelled like pies and bread. There was a long counter with many stools and then a bunch of plushie looking booths and small high sitting tables. Will was surprised that there wasn't many people here.

A hostess walked up to him with a smile. “Table for one, sir?”

“A-Actually a table for two please, I'll be waiting on someone.”

The hostess cocked a brow and pulled a notepad out of her pocket. “Are you William Cipher?”

“Uh, yes-?”

She tucked the notebook away and grabbed a menu off of the counter. “The man you're waiting for is already here. This way please.” She turned around and lead William down an isle of booths, at the end there one was one of the high seated tables.

William could only assume that the other man seated there was Mason. And gosh, he was handsome. He was dressed in a navy blue suit, and had a pair of the coldest blue eyes that Will had ever seen.

The hostess put William's menu on the table, and William took the seat across from Mason.

“Your server will be here soon.”

“Uh, s-sorry that I was a bit early,” William started, he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Early? You're ten minutes late.” Mason said with a sigh.

“What?” His eyes darted to his watch and the second hand had stopped ticking. “M-My battery must be dying, I'm so sorry.”

“It’s fine, but if we're to be roommates I don't want you being late to things. That's just sloppy.”

William felt his face burn with an embarrassed heat. “It won’t happen again, I promise.”

A waitress in a peach dress with a dirtied white apron came up to their table. “Sorry to disturb you two, but are you ready to place your orders?”

Will shot Mason an unsure glance and the other man nodded at him.

William nervously flipped open the menu, he hadn't even looked at it. “I-I’ll just have a glass of water and an uh-” He picked something random. “A meatloaf sandwich.”

“I'll have a burger and a glass of hot tea.”

The waitress nodded, and left them.

There was a heavy silence between them for a moment before Mason spoke. “Why are you interested in becoming my roommate William?”

“Oh well, my current apartment is pretty small and yours is closer to my work.” William explained, he fidgeted with his hands under the table.

Mason nodded, “what do you work as?”

“I'm a typist.”

“I thought that was a womans’ job?”

“Theres a few men who still work as typists in my firm- most of the others got conscripted.”

“Ah,” Mason leaned back in his chair. “and why weren't you drafted?”

William was starting to get the feeling that he didn't like Mason, yes he was at fault for being late; but that didn't give Mason a reason to be so rude to him.

“Because my brother was already in the military. Why weren't you?”

Mason's relaxed posture became a bit stiff. “My family saw it easier to pay off my conscription and have another man join in my place.”

“Must be nice to have a family with that much money,” William muttered without even wanting to say it.

“Yes I suppose, but they're overbearing, that's why I separated myself from them.”

William nodded, and the waitress returned with their drinks. He took a sip from his water and was happy to have it, drinking it would give him something to do.

“Understandable. What's your work then, if you don't mind me asking?”

“I'm a tax collector.” Mason grabbed a sugar packet from a small saucer in the center of the table and opened it over his tea.

“I bet saying that really puts a damper on most people's moods.” Laughed Will softly.

“Oh you wouldn't believe it.” He exhaled through his nose. “So, William, have a wife?”

“No.”

“A girlfriend?”

“Nope.”

“A runaround Sally?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Well good,” Mason took a sip from his tea. “I prefer my apartment to be out of reach of women.”

William tilted his head to the side slightly. “What do you mean by that?”

“I have a sister, and I lived in the same home as her all the way through high school. Let's just say I've had my fill of women for a while.”

William laughed, “I get you, well don't worry about bringing any girls around. I'd rather focus on something more than a woman.”

***

Mason could say that the dinner had went pretty well. Since William was the only candidate for the position, and that he was a decent fellow. Mason decided to look past the fact that he was late to dinner and focus on how he would be as a roommate.

The only thing that was strange about the night was that Mason kept finding himself staring at William. He really was surprised a forceful woman hadn't claimed him already (he seemed a bit of a pushover); he was fairly handsome with almost-too-long raven hair that curled about his face, childishly blue eyes, and the fairest skin he had seen on any man.

After dinner is when Mason finally told William.

“You know, I'd be happy to have you as a roommate, William.” He said before taking the final sip of tea from his cup.

“Really? Oh that's great, thank you so much!” A smile split on to William's face that made Mason have a difficult time swallowing his tea. “So uh- when do you want me to move in?”

“If you're not busy, why not this weekend? I could call a cab to transport your things. I don't like to postpone things.”

“Oh yeah, yeah I'm free Saturday. I'll just have to have a chat with my landlord tomorrow and then I'll bet set.”

“Perfect.”


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the week past dreadfully slow for William, he was so excited to move into a new place. It made it hard for him to focus on his work, but he preserved.

He and Mason had planned it so on noon Saturday, Mason would send over a cab to take his stuff over the the apartment and they would walk back together.

Will already had most of his stuff, save for his clothes and hygiene items packed away in spare boxes he got from the grocers. He was truly grateful for what a good deal he was getting moving in with Mason, he would be paying the rent he paid now to live in a bigger place, he would be getting a practically new bed, and he would have a shorter commute to work.

When Saturday finally came, William choose to wore more casual clothes since he would hopefully be becoming more casual with Mason, he wore a crisp, white dress shirt and dark slacks. Then with his outfit out of the way he finally packed up the rest of his clothes and other things.

There wasn't much really, only eight boxes. In eight boxes William could hold his entire life, it seemed pretty pathetic to him, but he didn't really have an excuse for being like this. He wasn't married, the only family he still talked to was his brother Bill but he was in the war now, and he kept to himself. He was just an odd duck.

There was a knock at his door and Will was quick to answer it, he was not surprised to find Mason at his doorstep.

“Good afternoon, William. I have a cab parked right outside, they can carry your boxes down while we start out.” Mason wore a thick, grey trench type looking coat that was unbuttoned. He also wore a darker grey, Stetson hat.

“Oh well that saves me the trouble of carrying them down myself, thank you.” William gave Mason a gentle smile and grabbed his coat from the coat hanger on the wall.

“Not a problem, now are you ready to go?” Mason asked, he pulled back the sleeve of his coat to gaze at his watch.

“Uh-huh, of course.” William slipped on his coat and held the door for Mason to leave, he stepped out after him and closed the door silently behind himself.

Mason lead the way out of the complex and outside into the cool air while William followed beside him. As they walked down the sidewalk, William kept having to tear his gaze away from Mason. He had only seen him two times, but he always looked so handsome, far more handsome than anyone else he had laid eyes on.

The walk to the apartment was mostly quiet, the only real noise was the sound of the occasional car driving past.

Once they arrived at the apartment, William noted at how his boxes were already brought up. “Wow, this place is even bigger than you said it was.”

“Yeah,” Mason casted a quick glance around. “It's probably because I don't decorate much.”

“Nah, I just think it's a big house.”

Mason then showed William to his room, it had a window that looked down at the city below, a twin sized bed, a fairly large closet, and a nightstand. It was far more than he could ever ask for in a room.

William then unpacked his boxes one by one, a couple contained his clothes, while one his record player, another his records and photos, a few some blankets, and the last box held his dishes and silverware and cups which he put away in the kitchen.

It was almost evening by the time he had everything put away. He had his record player in his room, but it just seemed too crowded.

Will opened up his door and padded quietly into the living area where he found Mason reading the paper. “Uh, Mason?” He asked timidly.

“Hm?” Mason didn't lift his gaze from the paper.

“Would you mind if I brought my record player into the livingroom?”

“Of course not, only if you play your music at a sensible volume and time.” Mason closed the paper and sat it besides him. “What records do you have?”

“Oh you know,” William started to unknowingly play with his hands. “Elvis.. The Beach Boys, The Beatles.. Chubby Checker.” He shrugged softly. “I like a lot of things.”

Mason gave a soft hum, “I can tell. My family was never fond of music that wasn't instrumental, so I wasn't allowed to listen to anything but when I lived with them. I'd enjoy hearing your records sometime.”

“Oh of course! I'd be more than happy to play them for you,” a smile graced Will's face. “Let me go fetch my player and the records then.”

Mason nodded and William went to his room to fetch first the record player, which he placed on the floor and he scooted it closely to the wall. Then he brought the records into the livingroom and placed them besides the player.

Mason moved to sit on the floor near William, “mind if I look through them?” He asked, gesturing to the stack of records.

“Oh course not, go ahead.”

Slowly Mason pawed through each record, there was only about twenty or twenty five there and nearly half of them were singles. He felt accomplished to have recognized the artists on the covers though never having heard any of their songs.

He flipped back one record to find a photograph, in it there were two men dressed in their Sunday best and they had their arms draped about each others shoulders. A smile ten miles long was plastered on each of their faces. Mason could identify one of the men as William and the other had to be his brother- though he couldn't tell who was who.

When William realized that there was a stray photograph, he quickly snatched it away. “A-Ah sorry, I packed my photographs and records in the same box.. I don't know how this one got wedged in the middle of them.” He looked at the picture and his lips trembled.

“Is that your brother?” Mason questioned, scooting a bit closer to Will.

William's eyes darted up to Mason, “u-uh, yeah, yeah it is.”

“If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me who is who here? You two look too similar to tell.”

A gentle smile appeared on William's face, he held out the photo for Mason to get a better look. “It's fine, nearly no one can tell us apart. Here I am,” he pointed out himself on the right hand side of the photo. “And that's my brother Bill,” he then pointed to his twin on the left.

“Your Christian names are Bill and William?” Mason asked puzzledly.

“Yeah- uh, daddy wasn't too creative.”

“I understand you there, my father nearly gave me a horrible name.”

“What was it?”

“Dipper.”

“Dipper? But, why?”

Mason pushed back his curly bangs to reveal a birthmark that bore an uncanny resemblance to the little dipper. “This is why, luckily my mother had some common sense.”

“Oh wow-,” Will watched as Mason dropped his bangs, hiding the birthmark. “That's amazing, I have never seen anything like it,” he breathed out.

“Thank you,” Mason bit his lip and looked away for a moment. “I'll have you know that my sister and I are twins as well.”

“Small world then,” smiled William.

“Small world,” echoed Mason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow look an update!! This fic is basically my giant excuse to listen to oldies :p
> 
> Sorry if this chapter went kinda slow again, I've noticed my writing style is rather fast paced and I'm attempting to change that.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I know that this hardly took off and that it was probably hard for you guys to read; but it will pick up!! And I promise itll be real fluffy (and a lil angsty)!
> 
> So basically it takes place in 1967 while the Vietnam war and a bunch of racism is going on.


End file.
